1. The Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to optical interleavers, filters, and components, and more particularly to optical interleavers, filters, and components for optical fiber communication networks.
2. Background and Related Art
The Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) standard defines a hierarchy of multiplexing levels and standard protocols which allow efficient use of the wide bandwidth of fiber optic cable, while providing a means to merge lower level DS0 and DS1 signals into a common medium. Currently optical communication is accomplished by what is known as “wavelength division multiplexing” (WDM), in which separate subscriber/data sessions may be handled concurrently on a single optic fiber by means of modulation of each of those subscriber data streams on different portions, a.k.a. channels, of the light spectrum.
The spacing between channels is constantly being reduced as the resolution and signal separation capabilities of multiplexers and demultiplexers are improved. Current International Telecommunications Union (ITU) specifications call for channel separations of approximately 0.4 nm, i.e., 50 GHz. At this channel separation as many as 128 channels may be supported in C-band alone. Each channel is modulated on a specific center frequency, within the range of 1525–1575 nm, with the center frequency of each channel provided by a corresponding one of 128 semiconductor lasers. The modulated information from each of the semiconductor lasers is combined (multiplexed) onto a single optic fiber for transmission. As the length of a fiber increases the signal strength decreases. To offset signal attenuation erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are used at selected locations along the communication path to boost signal strength for all the channels. At the receiving end the processes is reversed, with all the channels on a single fiber separated (demultiplexed), and demodulated optically and/or electrically.
Optical filters play important roles in handling these optical communications for the telecommunications industry. They perform wavelength multiplexing and demultiplexing of the 128 or more optical channels. They may also be used to gain scale EDFAs by flattening their gain profile.
The requirements for optical filters used for any of these applications are very demanding. The close spacing between the channels in a WDM, makes it desirable to design a WDM with flat pass bands in order to increase the error tolerance. This is primarily because the center wavelength of a transmitter slips with temperature. Further, the cascading of the WDM stages causes the pass bands to become narrower at each WDM down the chain. Therefore, the larger the pass bands the greater the shift tolerance of the channel. With faster data rates, it is also becoming increasingly important to reduce or eliminate sources of chromatic dispersion while processing optical signals.
Various devices, such as multi-stage band and comb splitters, have been proposed to fill these new demanding requirements and none are fully satisfactory. In a multi-stage band splitter, the first stage makes a coarse split of two wavelength ranges, and subsequent stages make finer and finer splits of sub-bands within each of the wavelength ranges. In a multi-stage comb splitter, the first demultiplexing stage filters out two interlaced periodic sets of relatively narrow band passes and the subsequent stages employ wider band pass periodic filters until the individual channels are demultiplexed. In either case, noise and inter-channel interference are limiting factors in the handling of increasingly narrow band pass requirements. Multi-layer thin-film filters can be used to construct optical filters in bulk optics, but they are undesirable because of an increase in the number of layers for narrow channel spacing, precision of manufacture and expense associated with increasingly narrow band pass requirements. Further, dispersion will become a major issue as channel spacing decreases. Especially at 50 GHz channel spacing, dispersion of thin film filters is so big that it can not be used for an OC-192 signal (10 Gbit/sec). Mach-Zehnder interferometers have been widely employed, but they have a sinusoidal response giving rise to strongly wavelength dependent transmission and a narrow rejection band. Other designs have encountered a variety of practical problems.
Accordingly, there is a need for new optical filters and components for optical multiplexing and/or demultiplexing and other optical applications.